Congress-SP will bulldoze Ram temple, learn use of bulldozer from Yogi: PM Modi
On the same day, he said in UP’s Hamirpur that the Congress is going to end SC, ST and OBC reservation for its vote bank that indulges in “vote jihad”.
PM Narendra Modi with CM Yogi Adityanath in Barabanki. PTI
IF the Congress and the Samajwadi Party come to power, they will use a bulldozer on the Ram temple at Ayodhya, send Ram Lalla back to the tent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh Friday, adding that they could take a leaf from UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s bulldozer book.
On the same day, he said in UP’s Hamirpur that the Congress is going to end SC, ST and OBC reservation for its vote bank that indulges in “vote jihad”.
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“SP aur Congress waale agar satta mein aaye to Ram Lalla ko phir se tent mein bhejenge aur mandir par bulldozer chalwaa denge. Kya Yogi ji se yahi seekhna hai? Are zara Yogi ji se tuition lo bulldozer kahaan chalaana hai kahaan nahin chalaana (If SP and Congress come to power, they will send Ram Lalla back to the tent and use a bulldozer on the temple. Is this what they want to learn from Yogi ji? They should take tuition from Yogi ji as to where a bulldozer has to be used and where it must not be).”
“The Congress is preparing to reverse the Supreme Court judgment on Ram temple. When I say that a former Congress leader said that they want to reverse the court’s verdict, some people say aisa to kaise ho sakta hai (how can this happen)? Bhram mein mat rahiye. Desh jab azaadi ka aandolan kar raha tha na aur desh ke tukde karne ki baat aati thi, to desh ka har vyakti kehta tha nahin yaar desh ke tukde thode hi hote hain. Ho gaye ki nahin ho gaye? Inhone kar diya ki nahin kar diya? Ye kisi bhi hadd tak jaa sakte hain ji. Inka track record hi aisa hai. Inke liye desh vesh kuchh nahin hai bhai (Don’t be under any illusion. When the country was fighting for independence and Partition was being talked about, everyone used to say that Partition can’r happen. But did it happen or not? Did they do it or not? They can go to any extent. Their track record is such. For them the country means nothing). For them only their family and power are important. This is their game,” the Prime Minister said.
He added: “What are Congress and SP saying? They first placed Ram Lalla in a tent. To please their vote bank, they said instead of a temple, construct a dharmshala, school or hospital there. When the temple got constructed, such is the poison in their belly — I don’t know what enmity they have with Ram Lalla — they rejected the invitation for the consecration. A big leader of SP says on Ram Navami that Ram temple is bekaar (useless).” Leave alone voting for them, you should punish them in such a manner that they lose their security deposit, Modi added.
On May 8, PM Modi had said in Dhar in MP, “The Congress is spreading lies… Don’t they know that from 2019 to 2024… the NDA-plus alliance already had the support of around 400 seats… Modi needs 400 seats so the Congress cannot bring back Article 370 in Kashmir and create trouble. Modi needs 400 seats so the Congress cannot put the Babri lock on the Ram mandir in Ayodhya.”
In his Barabanki speech on Friday, the PM referred indirectly to RJD leader Lalu Prasad and said, “Wo to yahaan tak keh rahe hain ki poora ka poora aarakshan ab Musalman ko milna chahiye. Ab mujhe bataayiye iska matlab Dalit, Adivasi, pichhre, OBC – inke paas kuchh bachega hi nahin bhai. Main aapke adhikaaron ki raksha karne ke liye 400 paar maangta hoon aapse (He is even saying that the entire reservation should now go to Muslims. This means nothing will be left for Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs. I ask you for 400-plus seats for defending your rights).”
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Modi said that the Shehzada of Congress has promised ‘X-ray’ of people’s wealth, meaning what is in the locker, land, gold, silver, Mangalsutra, etc., of the people. “Wo kya kehte hain ki aapke paas jo hai aapse lekar ke jiske paas nahin hai usko de diya jaayega. Matlab jo vote jihad karega unko diya jaayega (They say that what you have will be taken away from you and given to those who don’t have it. This means it will be given to those who wage vote jihad).”
Modi had first reframed the slogan ‘400 paar’ (400-plus) on April 24 in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar, when he said: “They ask me why 400 paar? I reply – because of your stratagems in the states. You are playing games to steal the reservation of Dalits, tribals and OBCs. You are trying to loot them. To stop this game of yours forever, and to put a lock on your intentions, Modi wants 400 paar.”
In Barabanki on Friday, the PM said that if you expose the opposition’s dishonesty, their communalism, their vote bank politics, and their thought of doing Hindu-Muslim day and night, they say ‘Modi Hindu Musalman kartaa hai’.
“Arre Modi ko bolna padta hai tumhare paapon hai tumhare paapon ka poora ye itihas desh ko bataane ke liye (Modi has to say in order to tell the nation about your history of sins).”
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Modi had said in his interview with News 18 India earlier this week, “Main jis din Hindu-Musalman karoonga na, us din main sarvajanik jeevan mei rehne yogya nahin rahoonga. Aur main Hindu-Musalman nahin karoonga. Ye mera sankalp hai (The day I do Hindu-Muslim, I will be unworthy of public life. And I will not do Hindu-Muslim. It is my resolve).
Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers.
Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers.
He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More